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Fearless Prediction: Tennessee vs. Chattanooga (and a season prediction, too)
By Mark Nagi
Published:
The Fearless Prediction has been on sabbatical, spending the past 9 months traveling the world, trying to find the secret to life. My friends, we found the answer … and it is college football.
From coaching carousels to conference realignment to NIL to the return of a video game to whatever Lee Corso is wearing on his head, college football, in all its absurdity, truly is the gift that keeps giving. It’s so good to have the greatest sport in the world back on our televisions.
It never left our hearts.
Before the Fearless Prediction looks at the Tennessee vs. Chattanooga game, we have some early thoughts on the Vols’ upcoming season.
My SDS college Connor O’Gara got out the crystal ball for the Vols, and he makes a lot of valid points while picking the Vols to finish 8-4 in the regular season.
(If you like to bet, FanDuel has placed the Vols’ over/under win total at 8.5. I’m a tad more optimistic. I have the Vols going 9-3.)
Here are a few more things Fearless Prediction is expecting over the next few months as well.
One of the worst moments of the 2023 season came in what was perhaps the best game Tennessee played. Wide receiver Bru McCoy dislocated his right ankle in the second quarter of the Vols’ 41-20 win over South Carolina. McCoy has been a fan favorite since transferring from Southern Cal before the 2022 season. His catch at the end of the Alabama game will be remembered for generations of Vols fans.
McCoy decided to use the extra COVID year of eligibility and return to UT for a 6th season of college football. The Fearless Prediction admires this dedication to higher education and sticking around college as long as possible.
Squirrel White and Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell II might have more big play possibilities from the Tennessee wide receiver room, but McCoy will be counted on to make a lot of the tougher catches over the middle. His physical play will be a difference-maker, and a safety valve for new QB Nico Iamaleava.
On defense, edge rusher James Pearce Jr. is getting tons of hype and rightfully so because he could end up being the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. (Tennessee hasn’t had a No. 1 overall pick since you-know-who. But I think the most intriguing player on this Tennessee defense is LB Keenan Pili, who hasn’t even played a full football game yet in the Orange and White.
A grad transfer from BYU, Pili was injured in the 2023 opener, later applied for an extension of eligibility waiver, and got it from the NCAA. Now Pili has a 7th year of college football ahead of him. Remember, he was a recruit in the Class of 2016.
Pili’s teammates probably ask him if he voted for Reagan or Carter.
In all seriousness, Pili needs to be one Tennessee’s best defensive players for the Vols to succeed, and the Fearless Prediction expects him to put together a solid amateur swan song.
In terms of the schedule, there’s so much talk surrounding the SEC slate. A trip to new conference foe Oklahoma. A meeting with Nick Saban-less Alabama at Neyland for the first time since the Dixieland Delight game 2 years ago. A chance to snap a 7-game losing streak at Georgia.
But the Fearless Prediction would like to make sure that people aren’t sleeping on what could potentially be a tricky early-season neutral site game against NC State in Charlotte. The Wolfpack will be led by Coastal Carolina transfer QB Grayson McCall, and if he has figured out that new offense, what is expected to be a relatively stress-free affair could be a long night for UT.
This also gives the Vols a chance to play against Dave Doeren, who for about 12 hours seemed destined to be the next Tennessee head coach during the chaotic “Schiano Sunday” coaching search of 2017.
Now, for the Week 1 game at hand.
The Vols are keeping that appearance fee in state as Chattanooga makes the easy trip up I-75. The Vols are 40-2-2 against the Mocs, most recently a 45-0 victory in 2019. Of course, that was during the Jeremy Pruitt era, so technically the victory doesn’t even exist following NCAA sanctions. (Fearless Prediction was at that contest, so it was real to me, darn it!)
The overreactions from the first game of the season are always a delight. If Nico accounts for 4 TDs, start the Heisman campaign! If he has an interception, they better get Gaston Moore and Jake Merklinger ready!
The Fearless Prediction isn’t especially concerned either way, as we aren’t going to make any rash generalizations after those 60 minutes. Not our style.
Just remember to drink lots of water because Neyland might feel like the surface of the sun for that 12:45pm kickoff.
Fearless Prediction time …
Tennessee 45, Chattanooga 0
Mark Nagi has covered Tennessee athletics for over 20 years. He is the author of “Decade of Dysfunction,” an in-depth look at all that led to the crazy coaching search of 2017 at Tennessee. The book is available on Amazon.
